One night a few months ago, a flurry of tweets flew out of New Brunswick congratulating Xiplinx, one of the companies going through the Launch36 accelerator, in landing a really impressive client as an early adopter.

I hadn’t heard of Xiplinx at the time, but over the next few months I heard more and more, and expect I’ll hear more still in the coming months.

Founded in November by Brent MacDonald of Saint John and Derek Roche of Dartmouth, Xiplinx helps companies with large facilities monitor what is happening on their production lines in real time. Such companies have a major

If there’s one conclusion to draw from the Launch36 Demo Day in Dieppe, N.B., it would probably be that the 250 lucky souls in the audience were witnessing the absolute apex of modern regional development.

I say probably because there are so many aspects of the celebration Tuesday night to reflect on. The 10 young companies on display were impressive. The delivery was entertaining and polished. The presentation was clean and concise. The show did not drag. The atmosphere was celebratory and all the better for seeing people who have very quickly become old friends.

But a day later, the

Twelve years since its launch, Atlantic Hydrogen Inc. is going through a watershed year.

The Fredericton company, whose technology extracts carbon from natural gas, is now in a key phase of commercializing both its platforms. And as it moves forward on these operational plans, AHI is working on a $10 million fundraising round and hoping to close the first tranche by September.

“We’ve been around a little longer than some and hope to be in a position soon to talk about some exciting things,” said David Wagner, President and CEO of the company.

In 2000, AHI began to commercialize

Enjoying media attention that few entrepreneurs receive, Vince Stuart is looking for a ``major equity partner’’ for his patented Bait Savour, a device that allows fishermen to reset their lobster trap while it is underwater.

Bait Savour, which won the $100,000 prize for the Annapolis Valley and Digby region in Innovacorp’s I-3 competition in January, allows lobster or crab fishermen to extend the period of time that their traps are baited. The device is a container with a small fuse that dissolves in water, releasing fresh bait into the trap. 

A trip out to check traps can cost lobster

The Launch36 Demo Day, which Propel ICT is hosting Tuesday night in Dieppe, is such a big deal that we’re doing something at Entrevestor that we haven’t done in all the years, er, months we’ve been publishing.

We'll be attending the extravaganza at the Dieppe Arts & Cultural Centre and, on Wednesday, I’ll file the first of five stories on the event, and discuss the presentations by three companies we’ve already covered: CyberPsyc; LeadSift; and VidCruiter. There is so much excitement about the companies that will be graduating from the accelerator that our complete coverage will then

Here’s the state of play in East Coast Tech in the past 24 hours: four established companies in Nova Scotia issued announcements about business growth; and 11 startups are preparing for their groundbreaking Demo Day in New Brunswick next week.

What does it mean?

It means there’s too much news for separate stories and our blog today will be a bit of a smorgasbord.

Tomorrow, I’m going to outline Entrevestor’s coverage plans for the Launch36 Demo Day at Dieppe on Tuesday, which has created a lot of buzz around the region. (Case in point: I met with three people in the startup world in

The following is the text of a press release we put out yesterday for CompCamp Halifax.

CompCamp, a technology camp for teenagers, is pleased to announce that several leading digital enterprises in Nova Scotia will fund scholarships to the camp this summer, allowing young women and disadvantaged youth to develop their passion for technology.

CompCamp offers four programs – each lasting one week – that will teach young people from all walks of life not only how to use technology to enrich their lives, but also how that technology works. They will emerge from the camp understanding the

The latest issue of Progress Magazine is out, and it features my column on the MedTech sector in Halifax.

The column examines some of the factors that have led to the creation of so many companies that make medical or dental devices. It also looks at what BioNova is doing to promote the sector.

Also, check out Carol's piece on the cultural economy of Charlottetown.

A Halifax businessman I respect recently told me there was no way the Nova Scotia government would ever extend equity tax credits (or a reasonable facsimile) to people living outside the province. It was a non-starter, he said, because the government doesn’t send cheques to non-residents.

I told him that Nova Scotia—indeed, all of the Atlantic provinces—should consider it. In fact, it’s happening in at least one U.S. state. Although I lost the argument with the businessman, I’m pigheaded enough to look deeper and discovered that Minnesota has a remarkable Angel Tax Credit program, and you

Invest New Brunswick’s decision to contribute $3.8 million in payroll rebates to Radian6 created minor rumblings in the tweetosphere yesterday as tweeters debated the wisdom of government aid to businesses.

First the facts:  Economic Development Minister Paul Robichaud announced Wednesday the government would provide up to $12,000 per job in rebates to help the social media monitoring company expand its workforce in Fredericton and Saint John. Radian6, which was purchased by San Francisco-based Salesforce.com for about $370 million last year, plans to expand by about 300 positions in New